Are these new aircraft?
•Unlike the current New Zealand Seasprite fleet which were new at the time of purchase, Australia chose to refurbish former US Navy airframes.
•The practice of refurbishing airframes is common. It involves a complete re-build of the body to a point where it is regarded as new and the fitting of new avionics, engines, wiring, software, fittings, and weapons and sensor systems. The aircraft have a service life out to 2030.
•Refurbished aircraft are common to all defence forces, and the Seasprite airframes will be no different in age to our upgraded C-130 Hercules and P3K2 Orions, except the entire Seasprite fleet only has a total of 1200 flying hours.
Why would these helicopters be suitable when Australia cancelled its contract?
•At the time Australia bought 11 Seasprites for $1 billion but decided to add bespoke enhancements, including a sophisticated computer controlled flight operating system. After a series of delays, project management issues, and cost over-runs the Australian government cancelled the project.
•A key issue was the Australian Defence Force specified an aircraft that could be flown by a two-person crew and have a computer flight system that could operate the aircraft with “no hands” on the controls.
•The NZDF has a different requirement. It will operate the aircraft with a three-person crew, as is current practice with its standard operating procedure for pilots to retain a hold on the controls at all times. The “no-hands” requirement is not being adopted.
•All other technical issues have been resolved by Kaman who continued to further develop the aircraft after Australia cancelled the contract.